Tata Bolt: 6 month term report

Snapshot: Our Tata Bolt has cemented its reputation as a brilliant city runabout. 6 months hauling around the office and it is still going strong.

Among a sea of established Japanese, German and Korean hatchbacks, the very Indian Bolt looked like it was entering a fight with a handicap. But a big round of applause for the Tata that started as an underestimated contender showed it is gone through rigorous training before facing the competition. We reported earlier that a diesel Bolt has joined our long term fleet and it became an instant hit in the office. After another 3 months we are happy to report that is has made a concrete image in the Autoportal family and everybody wants to take it home.

The reasons are apparent. It is very easy to drive around the city and it doubles up as a highway cruiser on weekends. The 1.2 diesel engine is very tractable in nature and the car just gets up and goes without complaint. Fuel efficiency too is surprising as you can image the level of heavy foot tiny Hamilton’s across the office, happily the Bolt doesn’t mind. It objects only when pushed too hard through higher rpms where the power just dies.

In fact boss was so confident that imagine he lent our bright red Bolt to the big boss for his short trip outside the city. Much to our delight he came back impressed with the comfortable ride quality this car has to offer. The suspension system is to be praised here with a sturdy feel and good shock absorption. Another positive is that it has enough space for 5 adults, and they are very well kept entertained by that excellent Harman music system.

What still is a sore area is the lack of practicality that we mentioned in our earlier report. Imagine how irritating it becomes when you bring in your favourite beverage inside the cabin and hunt for a place to keep it, or even a basic water bottle. Then are the weak brakes, which is a shame as Bolt can startlingly handle itself fair. Also whatever was wrong in making the boot bigger if the body is large enough to support it. Add to this the lack of rear parking sensors and you will have your eye brows raising at the Tata staff, which is absolutely reasonable.

We know it is a worked up Indica but my god what a transformation. Bolt has been on a number of video shoots hauling the entire team and equipment and it has come to us that it really is good looking. You might change your mind on buying something else owing a lot to its good looks, and also frugal diesel engine. We’ve seen healthy numbers in the range of 17-18kmpl and believe us in the hands of hooligans that is an impressive numbers. Bolt holds a strong and stable line on open highways even above 100kmph.

The bright red Bolt has become a part of the scenery in Autoportal office. Everybody knows it’s reassuring presence in the parking lot as the easiest runabout for city commute, or calling dibs to be taken away for the weekend. We know it is hoping against hope, but hope Tata forgets to take it back any time soon.